Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Just kidding, you sort of have no choice. These are ultra-widefield retinal images of my eyes. No one likes going to the optometrist (or even the ophthalmologist). The puff of air test. No one likes that.

My optometrist had recently installed a new imaging system and offered to do these ultra-widefield retinal images for you. The only catch was that insurance didn't cover it, so you had to pay $50. I said sure, so long as I got the JPEGs. They were happy to do that.

Here's my left eye:

And here's my right eye:

If your optometrist or ophthalmologist offers this service, I say take it. It helps them get a better view of certain parts of your eye, which is good for detecting diseases or conditions that have no symptoms until it's too late. Plus it's fun because you get the images to take home.

I had about a hundred technical questions about the equipment, which they were not at all prepared to answer. For the few minutes I interacted with the system, I could tell it was a camera about the size of a refrigerator. They ask you to hug the machine, open your eye wide, and get it as close to the lens (or whatever it is) as possible. There's a large flash and it's over. They repeat until they get images they like. Do the same process for the other eye.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Thanks to everyone who called, texted, emailed, or otherwise found a way to contact us. As you can see on the news, the tsunami didn't do much in Hawaii. We had surges for several hours and definitely noticable water level increases, but we were evacuated in time and the state was well prepared.

Tonight a 8+ magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of Honshu, Japan. An aftershock of 6.4 hit shortly after, and then the tsunami waves began. Hit news.google.com for more details. Overhead video from helicopters showed the flooding as it happened.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center here in Hawaii issued a tsunami watch for all Pacific Ocean islands they monitor, as well as the entire state of Hawaii. The watch was upgraded to a warning and state and county civil defense have begun evacuation procedures.

A little over a year ago, this happened to us when the Chile earthquake threatened Hawaii with a tsunami. We are closer to Japan than Chile, plus the earthquake is stronger this time. Current predications are saying 2+ meter wave height in Hawaii for all coastal areas. First wave is due around 2:56 AM Hawaii time.

Right now we are watching the news, staying up to date with civil defense notices, and communicating with mainland friends and family to let them know we are fine. We do live in the inundation zone, but we are not to evacuate unless we are below the 3rd floor. Things may change and we may have to evacuate, but for now we stay put.

Waikiki itself is very crazy tonight. Lots of people getting out and police are everywhere on loud speakers. Stores closed early so as to prevent long lines and panic buying and to keep people at home or in hotels.

I am posting to Twitter as long as I have cell service. Click here for my Twitter feed.

For now enjoy a cell phone video I took during the second siren and managed to get on YouTube.